In the 1940s and 50s, a sick little pervert gassed, raped and strangled at least eight different people. This movie is a dramatization of some of his murders.
The film begins during WWII and shows, with a bit too much detail, the murder of one of John Christie's victims. Then, the film jumps ahead to 1949 and follows one particular set of victims. Christie (Richard Attenborough) is the landlord for a couple (John Hurt and Judy Geeson). The couple are quite poor and dysfunctional and with the approach of an unwanted pregnancy, Christie offers to help. He claims to have a medical background and will perform an abortion. However, he intends to instead gas, rape and strangle her like his other victims. After her rape/murder, Christie tells the husband that she died as a result of the abortion. What happens next makes this an even sadder tale--but you'll have to see a terrible miscarriage of justice.
This film is somewhat hard to watch. While the rape/murders are not shown in full detail, enough is shown to make the viewer uncomfortable--especially since the Christie murders at 10 Rillington Place actually did occur. No one knows just how many people he raped and killed, but they know of at least eight. The acting is very good (I particularly admired the acting of Attenborough but John Hurt was also very nice) and the film is technically well made--but also very, very unpleasant. I did not like the film but must praise it as a quality production.
The film begins during WWII and shows, with a bit too much detail, the murder of one of John Christie's victims. Then, the film jumps ahead to 1949 and follows one particular set of victims. Christie (Richard Attenborough) is the landlord for a couple (John Hurt and Judy Geeson). The couple are quite poor and dysfunctional and with the approach of an unwanted pregnancy, Christie offers to help. He claims to have a medical background and will perform an abortion. However, he intends to instead gas, rape and strangle her like his other victims. After her rape/murder, Christie tells the husband that she died as a result of the abortion. What happens next makes this an even sadder tale--but you'll have to see a terrible miscarriage of justice.
This film is somewhat hard to watch. While the rape/murders are not shown in full detail, enough is shown to make the viewer uncomfortable--especially since the Christie murders at 10 Rillington Place actually did occur. No one knows just how many people he raped and killed, but they know of at least eight. The acting is very good (I particularly admired the acting of Attenborough but John Hurt was also very nice) and the film is technically well made--but also very, very unpleasant. I did not like the film but must praise it as a quality production.